


lights, lullabies, and a father's eyes

by MissSugarPlum



Series: Nora Verse [5]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Dad!Barry Allen, Dad!Leonard Snart, Gen, Kid Fic, Like the fluffiest, M/M, Not beta-read, an overabundance of commas probably, fluffy nonsense, len is the sappiest sap and we love him for it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-20 22:36:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11344494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissSugarPlum/pseuds/MissSugarPlum
Summary: “Happy Father’s Day,” Nora says cheerily as she sets the tray at the edge of their bed. “I made you breakfast!”





	lights, lullabies, and a father's eyes

**Author's Note:**

> just a little idea that smacked me in the face a week or two ago - probably something to do with the fuzzy feeling I got watching my hubs on his first Father's Day. <3
> 
> this is my first official foray into NoraVerse, but don't expect it to be the last. me and this 'verse, we've got _plans_. :)
> 
> also, I'm not entirely certain of _when_ certain fics in this 'verse take place - the obvious exceptions being ThanksNora and the Christmas Eve one - but I like to imagine this fits in right after [a park, a pitch, and two dads](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7961866). it's got the right tone, anyway, so that's what I'm sticking with.
> 
> also also, and I'm pretty sure this goes without saying, this will make _no sense_ to you if you haven't read, at the very least, [a girl, a superhero, and a thief](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4521909), and at most the entirety of [writerdragonfly](http://archiveofourown.org/users/writerdragonfly/pseuds/writerdragonfly)'s [[keep us together]](http://archiveofourown.org/series/303183) series. she's just letting me build castles in her sandbox. :)
> 
> hope y'all enjoy! <33
> 
> (title chopped up slightly and taken from Eric Clapton's My Father's Eyes (and can I just say, I'm super proud that I found song lyrics that still manage to fit within the theme of titles here? because I'm totally proud))

The distant pop and sizzle of the stove and the smell of cooking bacon wafting through the apartment is what wakes Barry up. He stretches carefully so as not to disturb the bed’s other occupant, and smiles at the still-half-asleep huff Len lets out anyway.

 

“W’time s’it,” Len mumbles through closed lips, and Barry smothers a laugh into his shoulder, kissing the bare skin there in the next instant.

 

“Early,” Barry answers softly, and he grins a little more at the way the corners of Len’s mouth turn down unhappily.

 

“Mmmph.” Len shifts, turns a little, and throws an arm over Barry’s waist decisively, pulling him in as if to declare to the world his intention of not getting up. Barry bites the inside of his cheek in an effort to hold in his chuckle. “Shh.”

 

“I didn’t even say anything,” Barry protests, grinning wildly.

 

“Don’care. Shh.” Len pulls Barry to himself even more tightly and he goes along willingly, settling in with a content little sigh.

 

They lay there blissfully for a few long minutes, simply enjoying each other, but then Len is pulling away from him, groaning. Barry pouts, having gotten comfortable, and Len glares without any real heat before pushing himself up and out of bed.

 

“Be right back,” he rumbles, stretching his arms up over his head as he ambles to the door—presumably, Barry thinks, to the bathroom.

 

“Take your time,” he returns, enjoying the view of so much of Len’s skin on display for him, and Len snorts, showing him the finger before disappearing through the door.

 

Barry lets his head fall back against his pillow, content for once with stillness in the quiet of the morning.

 

That quiet is broken a few short minutes later with Nora’s shriek of “ _Len_! What are you doing— _go back to bed_!” and Len’s grumpy grumbling. He plods back into the room not a moment later and wastes no time plunging himself back under the covers, nestling once more against Barry’s side.

 

“What was that?” Barry asks bemusedly.

 

“Our daughter is a tyrant, is what that was,” Len grumbles, and Barry laughs loudly even as something in his chest lightens and expands at the casual way Len says _our daughter_.

 

“She must get that from you,” Barry teases, and he kisses away the unimpressed set to Len’s mouth before it’s even fully formed.

 

There’s a muffled _knock-knock-knock_ on their door not five minutes later. “Are you two decent?”

 

“Come on in,” Barry calls out, sitting up and ignoring Len’s grousing. Nora pokes her head in slowly, eyes narrowed into slits like she’s prepared to close them at the first sign of anything _untoward_ —she always checks in triplicate, now.

 

One mistake is all it takes. Barry’s pretty sure none of them could handle that level of awkward embarrassment again.

 

He rolls his eyes fondly as Nora nods her approval and slowly makes her way into the room, carefully balancing a tray fully loaded with all the delicious food he’s been smelling for the last twenty minutes.

 

“Happy Father’s Day,” she says cheerily as she sets the tray at the edge of their bed. “I made you breakfast!”

 

Len lifts his head at that, blinking blearily. Barry and Nora share a fondly exasperated look, Nora’s lips twitching like she’s trying not to laugh.

 

“It looks amazing, Nor,” Barry says once he’s sure his own voice won’t betray him, eyes roving appreciatively over the giant mess of scrambled eggs, the mound of crispy bacon, the pile of toast, only slightly burnt-looking. “Thank you.” His heart warms at the giant grin Nora shoots them.

 

“I even made you coffee,” she says, pointing at the two mugs on the tray.

 

Len sits up at last and raises his eyebrows, impressed. “You figured out the coffee pot?”

 

“I… _may_ have called Auntie Lise for help,” she hedges, smile turning sheepish, and Len chuckles knowingly.

 

“Are you eating with us, Princess?” he asks next, and Nora wrinkles her nose before shaking her head.

 

“Already ate,” she says, and she leans over to give Len a quick kiss on the cheek before bounding around the bed and doing the same to Barry. “I just—I wanted to do something for you today, to show you…” She hesitates, looking a little shy all of a sudden.

 

“Nora?” Barry asks, running a hand over her braids, and she takes a deep breath before smiling again.

 

“I wanted to thank you both for being amazing dads,” she says in a rush, and Barry melts at the words even as Len inhales sharply. “Okay, well, enjoy your breakfast, I’m gonna go,” she adds, and scampers out of the room before either of them can say anything else.

 

They sit together in silence for several long moments before Barry moves, reaching for one of the coffee mugs eagerly and taking a long sip—not enough cream and a little too much sugar, maybe, but it’s the best cup of coffee he’s ever tasted.

 

He looks over at Len when more time passes and the other man still hasn’t made a move toward the tray. He lays a hand on his arm in concern, and Len shakes his head minutely. Barry thinks, but can’t really tell, that he sees a slight sheen of wetness in his eye.

 

“I always…” Len trails off, clears his throat roughly, and it’s the most off-kilter Barry’s seen him in a long time. “Of course I think of Nora as my kid—”

 

“She _is_ your kid,” Barry interjects. He’s pretty sure he knows where this is going, and he smiles in understanding. After a moment, Len smiles back, and it’s shaky.

 

“I guess I never thought that she’d…”

 

“What? That she’d feel the same way? That she’d see you as a father?”

 

Len doesn’t say anything, but Barry doesn’t need him to, can read the answer clearly on his face.

 

He sets his coffee mug down carefully on the tray, then wraps his arms around Len’s shoulders. “You do so much for her that you don’t even realize,” he murmurs into the back of Len’s neck. “You take her to the library and read to her, you braid her hair _way_ better than I ever could, make sure she eats properly, help her with homework—you even sang to her when she couldn’t sleep that one night, when she woke up from that nightmare.”

 

Len’s not even facing him, but Barry can feel him frowning. “I thought you were asleep for that.”

 

“Mmm, I was not. It was adorable, you know.”

 

“Barry.”

 

“I may even have brought out my phone to record audio proof.”

 

“ _Barry_.”

 

“Kidding, kidding.” He’s not, but Len doesn’t need to know that. Len huffs like he knows he’s being lied to, and Barry grins, kisses his neck to distract him. “But you get what I’m saying.”

 

“Yeah.” Len is silent after that, though Barry knows he has more to say. He waits patiently, even though he’s sure the food is getting cold by now, but then Len says abruptly, “I never wanted kids.”

 

Barry nods thoughtfully; from what he’s gleaned through every scrap of information Len has given him about his past, he’s not surprised.

 

“But Nora is… she’s like a light, a bright little thing you can’t help but be drawn to.” Barry smiles—he never knew Len could be so poetic—but he keeps quiet, doesn’t want to spoil this precious moment. “She’s easy to love.”

 

“She is,” Barry agrees readily, and that feeling is back in his chest, warm and light and so, so full of love. “And so are you.”

 

“You’re such a sap.” Len rolls his eyes but turns his head for a kiss, so Barry figures he’s okay with sappy. It’s not like he’s got much room to talk, after everything he just said.

 

“You love it.”

 

Len smiles and Barry relishes the happy, loving look in his eyes. “I really do.”

 

They sit there, smiling ridiculously at each other, before Barry feels like he can speak again. “Great—can we eat now?”

 

Len shoves him away for ruining the mood, then turns his attention fully to the breakfast their daughter made for them.

 

It’s the best meal either of them has ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm hardly ever on it anymore, but come message me on [tumblr](http://that-pumpkinspicewhitegirl.tumblr.com) if you wanna chat! <3


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